Humane Trapping Tips, Tricks, Types, and Guides

Humane Trapping – Tips for Hard to Catch Cats

Cats can become trap-shy — frightened to go near or enter a trap, or trap-savvy — mastered the art of removing food without triggering the trap. Don’t be discouraged. The following are several straightforward techniques used to trap hard-to-trap-cats.

GET THE CATS USED TO EATING OUT OF THE TRAP

A short break can reduce a cat’s fear of the trap. During this time, keep feeding that cat and others in un-set traps for about a week or more before trapping again. Feed the cats in the same place and time as always. Load the trap the opposite way you normally would, so that the food is in the front of the trap and the front door is closed, because you do not want the trap set. Take off the back door or tie it securely open. Place the food by the entrance of the trap, then inside, then over a period of days gradually move it closer to the back. Feed in the same place and time as always. Monitor the traps while the cats eat to ensure traps are not stolen or a cat is not accidentally trapped. The cat will see other cats eating inside the traps and will likely try it as well. When you are ready to trap again, withhold food for 24 hours.

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Top 10 Tips for Getting Your Tenacious Trap-Savvy Cat

by Liz Cava

Some cats just don’t seem to want to go into the trap, no matter how hard you try. You’ve used smelly bait, you’ve withheld food to get them hungry, and yet you still sit out night after night and come up with an empty trap!

Here are the top 10 tips and tricks I’ve collected over the years that may help you nab your wily kitty:

Pray. Even if you don’t pray…pray.

Drink. Even if you don’t drink…drink.

Communicate telepathically with the cat. Even if you don’t believe in communicating telepathically with a cat…send them mental mindwaves to let them know their life will get better if they just—GO—INTO—THE—TRAP. CONTINUED

How Individuals Can Help

Community Cats

Stop overpopulation

with TNR

Food and water are important parts

of caring for community cats. But some people who are new to looking after these cats often don’t realize that if they don’t find a way to have the cats spayed or neutered, the number of hungry cats may soon become unmanageable as more and more kittens are born. Doing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) will keep this from happening to you and the cats.

How to do TNR

If you’re already feeding community cats, you may soon find yourself overwhelmed by kittens, kittens, and more kittens—unless you take quick action to get them spayed and neutered. Use our community cat resources to get these cats spayed and neutered while their numbers are still manageable.

Preparation for Trapping

HAVAHART® FERAL CAT TRAP RESCUE KIT

Community Cats and

Trap-Neuter-Return – FAQs

What is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)?

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is an animal control management practice where community cats are humanely trapped, sterilized by a veterinarian, vaccinated against rabies, eartipped, and returned to the trapping location. An eartip refers to the small portion of the top of a cat’s ear that is removed during surgery (while the cat is under anesthesia) to indicate that the cat has been through the TNR process. Decades ago, TNR was performed mainly by caring individuals. Today, TNR is performed by individuals, shelter employees, veterinarians, and animal control officers alike.

Why should I support TNR?

TNR is the only effective method of reducing the community cat population. Trapping-and-killing, the old-fashioned approach to community cats, had been used by animal control agencies for decades without any success. Not a single community in the United States (or elsewhere) has reduced the community cat population through trapping-and-killing. It’s obvious now that lethal control doesn’t work.

Why doesn’t trap-and-kill work?

Set a trap level and make sure there is nothing impeding the trap plate or the door.

Covering the trap with a blanket may encourage some cats to enter and help keep the sneaky cats from helping themselves to a slow meal from the outside. Covering will also help calm a frightened cat that has just been trapped.

Never leave a trap unattended, especially in extreme hot or cold temperatures.